Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt Meet Piper McLean and Leo Valdez
by rebaobsessions
Summary: Post Gaea War, Leo came back with Calypso. At Camp Jupiter; Leo goes to Piper for advice about his immortal girlfriend, and they take a day trip out into San Francisco. Meanwhile, it is seven years after the Charmed One's last destined battle. Billie is watching the kids, so Piper and Leo decide to take a romantic walk in their town. Needless to say, it doesn't go as planned.
1. A Chance Encounter

**A/N: This story originated from a list I made. Specifically ships. One of my friends looked over my shoulder and wrinkled her nose: 'Piper and Leo? Seriously? That's _so_ wrong.' Turns out I was thinking Charmed and she was thinking Percy Jackson. Best part? I thought to myself: _Hey. Confusion. I could use that!_**

 **So... Please let me know what you think.**

* * *

Leo was at the end of his rope.

Well, not really. His life was great. Gaea was gone for good, he had found his way back to Ogygia and left with Calypso, and eventually found his way back home. After his friends got over being angry he didn't tell them he was alive, Leo found a nice cozy niche in New Rome with Calypso. They opened a shop (Leo and Calypso's Repair Shop and Café), and Leo went to college (with Percy and Annabeth, no less!). Frank and Hazel were a stone's throw away in Camp Jupiter (with Frank ruling as super-awesome supreme _praetor_ with Reyna), and Jason was in and out as ambassador (usually with Piper, of course)… even Nico had settled down and found a boyfriend. It seemed like everyone had gotten their happily ever after. Life was great.

But, Leo was terrified. Life as a demigod was rough, and he constantly expected all manner of evil to jump out at him. Demigods didn't _get_ happily-ever-afters. They died tragically. Usually alone. Sure, the Romans had been getting by for generations in New Rome, but Leo wasn't convinced. He didn't have that kind of luck. What if Gaea wasn't truly gone? What if the Titans or the Giants tried to rise again? What if Tartarus had something up his sleeve next? Or what if the gods dissolved into chaos against each other again? Or for that matter, how stable was the Greek-Roman friendship? How could one quest heal centuries of bad blood?

Despite his worries, everything was peaceful. Well, as much as could be expected. There were no world ending plots, just the odd quest and blood-hungry monster. But…. No way could any of this last. It was too awesome.

The son of Hephaestus's worst fear was losing Calypso. He thought for sure that a grumpy old god would pay them a visit someday, sending Calypso back to that dreaded island and squashing Leo into demigod mush. After all—there had to be some sort of rule against dating a perfect immortal girl who happened to be the daughter of a Titan. Or… what if Calypso wasn't satisfied? What if she left? Leo would do anything to keep her happy, but he was just a hyperactive, annoying, and often grimy, tinkerer. He still couldn't understand what she saw in him. She had fallen in love with some of the most epic heroes in Greek and Roman history, like Odysseus and their very own Percy Jackson.

He needed some serious advice. Surely someone could tell him he was insane.

So, when he woke up to Calypso's cheery laugh and two familiar voices, Leo jumped out of bed like a jack-in-the-box. After hastily changing into a Camp Half-Blood shirt (a guy's got to show a little _graecus_ pride) and jeans, Leo rushed out into his apartment's living room and straight into the back of Jason Grace.

"Whoa, buddy! You're going to trip and kill yourself!" the son of Jupiter steadied the flustered mechanic.

Calypso smiled at her boyfriend, "What's your rush? Remember, we don't need to open the shop today!" She turned to the fourth occupant of the room, "I'm visiting Camp Jupiter on special request! Reyna and Frank asked me to do a guest history lecture in preparation of the coming anniversary of the Final Battle against Gaea. Rachel and Ella are going to be there too!"

"Calypso!" Piper beamed back, "That's great!" Leo couldn't help smiling at that too. Calypso got along famously with the Oracle of Delphi and the book-obsessed harpy.

Jason gave Leo a thwack on the back, "You ok there, man?"

Leo made a show of huffing and straightening his simple garb like it was one of those death-trap curtains the Romans wore to senate meetings. "Ruffled, but raggedly handsome, as usual, Grace."

"Glad to hear it." He turned back to the group as a whole, "I've got a packed day at Camp Jupiter too, Calypso. Maybe I can walk you there."

Calypso nodded enthusiastically, "And Piper, maybe you and Leo can hang out—make sure he doesn't die of boredom on his day off and all."

"I keep myself plenty occupied, thank you very much!" But Leo couldn't help grinning at the daughter of Aphrodite. This was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Not only would he get to catch up with his old friend, but he could get a first-hand opinion from the best love-goddess-child he knew.

"So," Piper ventured once Calypso and Jason had left, deep in conversation about teaching ADHD demigods, "What do you think about a field trip?"

* * *

Piper was at her wits end. How on _earth_ was she supposed to raise three kids, _and_ run a restaurant?

Well, when you put it that way, it sounded easy. It was not. Not when her three little babies (10, 9, and 6 years old) were young whitelighter-witches learning to use magic, fight evil, and become the new Charmed Ones. Just last week, Wyatt and Chris had snuck off on their own to vanquish some demon or another. It was maddening! Phoebe and Paige didn't have this much trouble! Although, Piper's two sisters had started families a long while after she had. Melinda (Piper's youngest) was the same age as her eldest cousins. Little kids were so much more manageable…. before they start coming into their powers and orbing all over creation.

Piper sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. This was going to be a disaster.

She hadn't been anywhere but home, magic school, and work for weeks. Now, she was leaving her three troublesome children in the care of Billie (their de-facto babysitter, and fellow witch), while she had a day out with her husband.

Almost as though he could read her mind, the ex-whitelighter called up the stairs, "Piper! You ready yet? It's not like we're going out to eat, or anything!"

"Coming, Leo!"

A day out in San Francisco. What could possibly go wrong. Demons? Probably. Running for your life? Almost guaranteed. Although—maybe she was being pessimistic. Piper has had plenty of pleasant days roaming the city, especially since she and her sisters (aka the Charmed Ones) finished their last destined battled seven years ago.

Everything was going to go just fine.

* * *

San-Fran-Cisco! What a place! Leo stared down the lop-sided street that curved up and down and all around. Every building was unique, but every street looked the exact same. Man—this place was like a non-magical (and considerably safer) Labyrinth!

Beside him, Piper finished her ice cream cone with a satisfied crunch. She smiled over at Leo, "Your hand is going to get all sticky."

He looked down at his melted ice cream and mushy cone, "Ah, by Tartarus!"

Piper laughed, "That's what you get for being Mr. Spacey!"

Leo proceeded to make a big show of disposing the melted treat in a nearby trash can, as though it were made of greek fire and gorgon's blood. Leo grinned back at his friend, who was practically rolling on the floor. He flourished a bow. "Thank you," he bellowed in an announcer's voice, "Thank you very much."

"You—you sound," Piper gasped for breath, "You sound like Otis or Ephialtes!"

Leo smiled back on the memory of the two anti-Dionysus giants and their idiotic—but deadly—idea of a show in Rome as he licked his hands clean.

"What do you say we head down to the bay?" Piper suggested. When he nodded, she continued, "Maybe you can get around to spitting out what you want to talk about too."

Leo stopped, tongue still hanging out of his mouth, and stared at the daughter of Aphrodite.

"It's about Calypso, isn't it."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Leo sighed.

"Nope!" she popped the 'p', "Come on!" She threw her arm over Leo's shoulder and started down the street.

* * *

"You were right," Piper sighed, leaning against her husband and watching the boat traffic ooze by soothingly on the bay. The midday sun shone against the exposed metal.

Leo smiled down at her, "Aren't I always?"

A smile quirked the corner of Piper's mouth. "Maybe…" she murmured mischievously.

Leo chuckled. "Nothing but the sun and a refreshing breeze. Not a demon in sight." He gestured around them.

Piper sat up quickly and slapped him on the arm. "Don't jinx it!" she complained.

He chuckled before becoming deadly serious, "You need to relax, Piper. You're nearly as bad as when every demon under the sun was after Wyatt, or when you faced the Ultimate Power…. We're safe, now, Piper, and we need to enjoy it."

She sighed, "Why do you always make sense?"

He smiled, "Well, I am a few decades older than you…"

"Oh, shut up!"

They fell into a comfortable silence. Piper leaned her head on her husband's shoulder.

Life was good.

"Leo!" Piper's head shot up at the unfamiliar voice. Beside her, Leo jumped.

"You've got to be kidding me!" the voice—a girls'—continued, "You're such an idiot sometimes!" Piper and Leo relaxed. There was just some kid with Leo's name.

A pair of kids came into view as they walked past a tree. The girl, who had feathers braided into her hair and a tee-shirt with some kind of native American-like design on, had her companion in a head lock and was ruffling his hair. The boy, who seemed to be of Latino descent, was grunting indignantly as he tried to wiggle away. He wore a bright orange shirt and a tool belt.

Piper probably would have dismissed them entirely. However, something caught her eye—the girl had a knife of some kind hanging in plain sight from her belt. And the boy—he was holding some kind of steam-punk-tech bronze sphere.

The girl conceded to the struggling and let the boy go. He instantly started fiddling with his sphere, pulling out tools that should not have fit in his belt.

"I can't believe you're worried about Calypso. There's no way she'd leave you, immortal or not. She's head over heels for you, Leo. Just like you are for her."

Beside her, _her_ Leo nudged her. "Immortal?" he whispered.

"Piper!" the boy protested. Piper felt her eyes widening. _What are the chances of that?_ The boy, Leo, continued "That's not my only worry, and you know it. The gods hold grudges—I mean, what if they send her back? I don't know what I'd do."

"Why do you think something like that is going to happen?"

"It's been too peaceful since Gaea. Too _quiet_. I can't help feeling something is brewing."

The teenage Piper sighed, "Leo, just because demi—" She froze, staring at the couple on the bench.

"Piper?" teenage Leo turned. He scowled when he met the surprised looks of the adults, "What? Is my hair on fire? Can't two friends have a private conversation in the middle of a crowded city?"

Piper felt her eyes drift to the girl's wicked looking knife. Why did a teenager have a weapon? The girl shifted uncomfortably, trying to casually block the blade from view. The boy swallowed hard, his scowl suddenly replaced by a look of apprehension. Piper looked nervously at her husband. Something about these kids made her feel on edge, "Leo, honey, what's going on?"

Leo was staring, obviously at loss for words. He shook his head, and glanced at his wife. "Gaea? Gods? That—that's not possible," he murmured, "They're gone."

Teen Leo, who seemed to have recovered from the guy in front of him being called by his name, snorted. "You just keep telling yourself that, man."

"Leo!" teen Piper hissed.

Piper frowned, "Are you witches?" That _might_ explain the strange conversation and the knife, but…

Now it was Leo's turn to protest. "Piper!" he complained in exasperation.

Teen Piper blinked at them in surprise, the combination of comments hitting her hard. "Piper?" she muttered.

"Witches?" teen Leo asked incredulously.

Piper opened her mouth to try again when Leo placed a hand on her leg, "Piper, I don't like this. We shouldn't be…." he glanced at the teenagers, "…sharing." He lowered his voice, "They aren't witches; I'd be able to tell."

As Leo spoke, the two teenagers drifted together instinctually. Piper watched them curiously; they'd been through a lot together.

"I don't know, Leo," she sighed, "They seem safe enough; they're just kids. What are they going to do? Drag us off to an insane asylum?"

Teen Leo slipped his sphere into his belt (goodness knows how it fit), and teen Piper's hand drifted to the hilt of her knife.

Piper turned to them, "I mean, you aren't demons are you?" The teenagers stared back, completely stunned. "They don't look like demons, do they honey?" she challenged Leo. "And I mean, what are the chances of two kids with our names walking past talking about immortality and gods? It can't be a coincidence."

Teen Piper frowned, "What do you mean? Are you demigods?"

"Careful, Piper," teen Leo said, though his tone was wry and joking, "They're probably gods in disguise or something insane like that. I knew it's been too quiet."

Leo frowned, "Demigods?"

"Yeah…" Piper stood slowly, "What does that even mean?"

"Only as crazy as that witch theory of yours," teen Leo shot back.

Beside her, Piper felt her husband stand.

Teen Piper, who was practically standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her friend, touched his arm, "Leo… maybe we should, you know, go. Head back to—" she stopped herself, "our… um…. Home."

"You know, I like the way you think, Pipes."

Teen Piper braced herself and looked at the adults, "We are just two ordinary teenagers out for a walk. We need to go now, and you should pretend you never saw us."

Piper felt a tugging sensation. Part of her desperately wanted to do as she was told. They were _obviously_ just two jesting teenagers. Piper shouldn't concern herself. She should just forget they met.

Together the two teenagers turned to go.

Beside her, Leo tensed. "Magic," he whispered. "It's magic, Piper. Don't listen."

Piper blinked. Of course it was magic—some sort of coercion. The teenagers were already a good five feet away.

"Wait!" without thinking about it, Piper threw up her hands. The teenagers stopped. But… so did Leo. His mouth was wide open, as though he was about to say something.

Piper had to admit: he looked like a fish.

* * *

 **A/N: Should I continue? Let me know what you think!**


	2. Gaea Who?

**A/N: I realize this chapter is shorter, but I already had it written and couldn't resist posting it after proof reading it a few times.**

 **Also: thank you for reviewing, HaywireEagle!**

* * *

Piper surveyed the damage she'd caused. The water of the bay had stopped lapping at the shore; above her head, several birds had frozen mid-flight. The barges continued to trundle past, however, and Piper could hear traffic somewhere behind her. So… it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

"Darn," Piper muttered. "At least I didn't blow anything up."

Resigning herself to the fact that she slipped up with one of her active powers, Piper walked around in front of the kids. "Might as well make it count," she muttered to herself. With a wave of her hand, she unfroze her localized chunk of the world.

Both of the kids jumped back. The boy pulled a wrench out of his belt, and the girl whipped out her knife. It was, surprisingly, bronze, not steel.

Back where Piper had been standing, Leo make and unpleasant noise, "Piper! What'd you do that for? Do you _want_ to draw every demon in the area, _and_ potentially expose your magic?" _Oops_ , Piper thought. He sounded pissed.

"It was an accident, dear. I just decided to take advantage of freezing the entire block." Leo scowled back, so Piper continued, "Look at the bright side. At least I didn't blow something up instead."

During this exchange, the two teenagers had nearly gotten whiplash, looking back and forth with wide eyes.

"Who, in the name of Hephaestus, are you people?" teen Leo blurted.

Leo, cordial as ever, stepped forward hand extended, "I'm Leo Wyatt, and this is my wife Piper Halliwell."

Piper couldn't help smiling at her husband. The teenagers, however, simply regarded his hand with suspicion.

"I assure you both; we have no intention of harming you," Leo continued. He glared over at Piper, "And I'm sure my wife is quite sorry for scaring you out of your skins."

"Well, I guess in that case…" the girl hesitantly slid her knife into its sheath and accepted the proffered hand, "Piper McLean." She glanced at teenaged Leo who simply scowled and crossed his arms, "The grump over there is Leo Valdez."

Piper's Leo turned his hand to the boy as the two Pipers shook. With a huff, the boy accepted and greeted both of the adults. Piper was surprised at the sensation of grease on the boy's hand.

"So," Piper ventured, looking at the girl, "What's with the knife?" Teen Piper's jaw tightened, and Piper immediately regretted the question.

Teenage Leo on the other hand frowned, "You can actually see it?"

Piper gave him a look, "Well, if I couldn't, would I be _asking_ about it?"

"Piper," Leo murmured, either in warning or to calm her…. probably both.

Teen Piper frowned at the use of her name, "That's confusing."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Piper replied dryly.

"By the way…" Leo looked at teen Piper, "What was that? The magic you used."

"It was… unlike any charm or spell I've encountered," Piper agreed

"Well, since you were the one who popped in front of _us_ —I might remind you we were _leaving_ —would you care to explain what exactly _you_ are and what _that_ magic was?" teen Leo glowered at Piper.

The experienced witch found herself feeling a bit like a deer in the headlights. "Well…" How could she explain herself? Should she be simple or… thorough? How much should she trust these strange kids? "…that's complicated."

* * *

"Well, un-complicate it." Leo was not impressed with this chance encounter. Not one bit. It reminded him of all the surprise monster and god attacks he's had over his time as a demigod.

The woman who bore Piper's name glanced at her husband, "I'm a witch."

"A witch?" Piper echoed.

Leo couldn't help but snort, "Yeah, and I'm Marty McFly."

The adult Piper gave him a proper glare. Like… the kind of momma-bear glare that makes your voice stop working. Only Sally Jackson was truly capable of giving Leo a glare like that. "Whether it fits into your world view or _not_ ," she said icily, "I am a witch, one of three chosen sisters; we've saved the world more than once. As for my _magic_ , that was one of my two active abilities: molecular immobilization."

"What's your other one?" Piper asked curiously.

Her older namesake smiled, "Molecular combustion."

The daughter of Aphrodite's eyes widened comically, "So when you said that you didn't blow something up, you meant—"

"Yes," the woman smiled encouragingly, every particle of her body screaming 'mom', "Sometimes when I'm stressed, I can't control my powers as well as I'd like."

Leo turned to the man, who still stood behind them, "So I guess that means you're a wizard or a warlock or something, right?"

To Leo's immense surprise the man blanched. "I am definitely not a warlock," he said with a look of disgust. His demeanor softened, "I'm actually a Whitelighter. Well, was."

"Whitelighter?" demigod Piper echoed again.

"They're like guardian angels for witches," adult Piper supplied.

"What do you mean _was_?" Leo narrowed his eyes, "Why aren't you one anymore?"

Adult Leo smiled, "That's a very long and complicated story. But, I'll give you the simplest version: I clipped my wings and became human again."

"Again?" Leo was still _not_ convinced about these characters.

"Wings?" Clearly Piper had picked up on a different part of the sentiment.

"Whoa there. We told you who we are. Now it's your turn." Adult Piper crossed her arms.

Leo looked desperately at Piper, and found a similar look staring desperately back. Leo had no idea how he was supposed to start. I mean—he didn't trust these people, but he had a feeling that they've been telling the truth, so Leo felt obligated to at least share _something_ …

Thankfully, Piper—gods bless that girl—spoke up first, "What do you know of Mythology?"

Leo's namesake frowned, "Which kind?"

"Greek and Roman."

The man nodded, "I'm very familiar with it. Piper may not know as much, but we did face a related evil a little less than a decade ago." Meanwhile, his wife smiled at him and made her way back to the bench.

 _Related evil?_ Leo found himself wondering. "Well," he jumped in, "It's all real. You know how in the stories the gods are always running around having children? Well, they still do. I'm a son of Hephaestus."

Piper smiled beside him, "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite."

"Back at—" he stopped himself. _Better not reveal Camp Jupiter._ "—our home, there are kids of almost all the gods. One of my best friends is a son of Jupiter, and his sister—a daughter of Zeus—is lieutenant to Lady Artemis."

"And Percy, who's a son of Poseidon, declined the gift of immortality once after saving Olympus—"

"—which hangs over New York—" Leo interrupted.

Piper glared at him as she continued, "—from the Titan Kronos and his army."

Leo surveyed the faces of the two adults. They were now standing side by side a few feet from the bench they had claimed before the chance encounter. The man looked baffled beyond belief—as if they'd just told him the world was flat. The woman, however, looked strangely intrigued and awed… and also in disbelief.

"Actually," the mechanic found himself venturing, "our last huge battle to stop the apocalypse happened around a year ago. Seven demigods, including me and Piper here, went on a quest to stop Gaea, supreme creepy homicidal dirt face, and heal the rift between the Greeks and Romans."

At that, adult Piper frowned. "I thought Gaea was mother earth."

"You're thinking of Pan, the god of the wild," Piper supplied, "Gaea had her son Kronos killed her husband Uranus, and later bore the race of giants with Tartarus himself. She _really_ hates the gods, and hates humanity even more."

"Hated. Past tense," Leo muttered, "I kinda died to destroy her. Remember?"

Adult Leo frowned, "I'm sorry?"

" _To storm or fire the world must fall_ ," Piper quoted. "That's a line from the Prophecy of Seven."

"I'm fire, and my friend who's a son of Jupiter is storm. I wasn't about to let my bud Jason duke it out with dirt face—especially after I figured out I was gonna die anyway."

"And you're alive… how?" adult Piper frowned at him.

"I took the physician's cure—basically a cure for death. _Very_ restricted, as you might imagine. Asclepius made it for us."

Piper frowned, "I _made_ him make it for us. And _then_ you had Hazel trick us all so you could take the cure with you and we wouldn't know what you had planned."

"But 'cha know you love me," Leo grinned.

Piper frowned deeper. "I'm still pissed you didn't send an Iris message to let us know you were alive." For a moment the two friends had a staring contest, forgetting about their surroundings and situation.

Leo nearly jumped out of his skin when adult Leo cleared his throat.

"What do you mean you made Asclepius make the death cure?" adult Piper peered at Piper.

Adult Leo nodded in agreement, "Yeah—does it have something to do with that magic you used on us?"

Leo watched his friend blush, and stare at the ground accusingly. "It's charmspeak," she managed to mutter, "A _gift_ ," her voice turned a little sour at that, "that I got from my mom. It's pretty rare." She glanced at Leo, "Sorta like children of Hephaestus that can summon and are immune to fire."

"That's me," Leo smirked, "Hot stuff."

"Alright," adult Piper clasped her hands together, "This is all fine and dandy, but I'm still confused as hell." She turned to her husband, "We fought Cronos and Demetrius, who were Titans, and you opened up that vase thingy and turned us into gods." She glanced at Leo and Piper. Leo was surprised by the apprehension in her gaze. "You turned me into the Greek Goddess of the Earth… gave me the power of Gaea."

* * *

 **A/N: Feedback is welcome!**


	3. What a Dream

Piper had to force herself to admit that last part; judging by the way the two kids talked about Gaea, they weren't going to be receptive. She was still struggling with their story too. Piper could accept the existence of gods and monsters and titans. She could even accept the gods having kids. But… their version of events didn't match up with her experiences _at all_.

Piper would be lying if she said she was surprised by the kids' reactions. She just announced herself as their greatest enemy. The least she could do is allow them the meager protection of a dagger and strange bronze sphere.

"What did you just say," the girl's voice shook as she held the dagger out as a buffer between her and the two strange adults.

Piper raised her hands in a peace sign, "I don't know what's going on, but for about two days I held sway over nature." The experienced witch couldn't help swallowing hard. Piper didn't much like how the young mechanic was brandishing his sphere.

Beside her, Piper felt her husband rub his face. "This… it just… The gods were mortals imbued with enhanced magical abilities by the Elders. They were meant to help trap the Titans; however, they let the power get to their heads and ruled as deities for centuries before the Elders managed to remove their powers and place them safely within a vase Up There." Leo looked up at the kids, who were staring at him in utter bafflement. "When several Titans got loose and started killing whitelighters and Elders, I had no choice but to give the Charmed Ones those powers."

By now, teenaged Piper had lowered her dagger completely, "What?"

"I gave Paige, the youngest of the three sisters, the power of the War Goddess, also known as Athena. I gave Phoebe the power of the Love Goddess, or Aphrodite," here, he glanced at teen Piper, and Piper recalled the girl claiming to be Aphrodite's daughter. "And… I gave Piper the power of the Earth Goddess, Gaea. Home, hearth, and power over nature."

"The goddess of home and hearth is Hestia, not Gaea," teen Leo murmured, speaking for the first time since Piper's bold declaration.

"The real question is _if_ the gods still exist as you say, and truly are immortal creatures, then _what exactly_ is in that vase," adult Piper turned to Leo and crossed her arms.

Leo, however, looked completely lost. He gazed weakly at his wife. "I wish I knew, Piper. I really do," he murmured softly.

Piper pursed her lips together. This wouldn't do. She needed answers. _Now._ Her husband couldn't give them, and the kids were as in the dark as she was. So, she did the logical thing. Turning her face to the sky, she called, "Paige!"

"Piper!" Leo immediately reprimanded.

"Paige!"

"Piper, she's at work! This isn't that urgent; it's not like it's a demon attack."

She continued to ignore her husband, "Paige! I could _really_ use your help here!"

Behind her, she heard teen Leo mutter to his companion, "Is it just me, or did she lose her marbles?"

"Paige!" Piper yelled one last time. She heard a familiar tinkle of whitelighter dust, and smiled.

* * *

Why in the name of Hades—and Zeus and Hephaestus and every other god under the sun—was this woman yelling at the sky? Her husband looked like he was going to spontaneously combust from exasperation.

No, scratch that. How, in the name of all that is sacred, is there a girl materializing out of thin air? All be-it with a faint blue shimmer of lights and a very fairy-like jingle….

"What is it Piper?" the woman, pale and dark-haired, stared down her nose at adult Piper. "This better be important; I was actually making progress on all my paperwork for once!"

"Magic school can survive for five minutes without you, Paige," adult Piper snarked back.

The woman— Paige, apparently—turned her glare to adult Leo who shrugged and gave a face that clearly said 'don't look at me!' He gestured weakly behind her to where Leo and Piper were standing. She whirled around and gave them a slack-jawed look.

"You might want to be careful, lady," Leo couldn't help himself, "Or you might swallow some bugs."

" _I_ might swallow some bugs?! Why aren't you two shocked or something?" Not waiting for an answer, she whirled back around, "Seriously, Piper! Why did you call me in front of innocents?"

Beside him, Piper frowned, "We aren't innocent."

Leo snorted, "Yeah. I think I grew out of that the moment Jason turned out to be all kick-ass on that school trip."

Piper glared at him, "You mean you grew out of it when we were _attacked_."

Leo rolled his eyes, "Same, same."

The two demigods turned their attention back to the adults, who were having a heated discussion about telling innocents ("Who aren't even innocents since we aren't protecting them!") about what they are. Which, despite Leo's personal misgivings, appeared to be witches, yet completely separate from Hecate's followers and children. Not to mention these 'whitelighter' people, that adult Leo used to be and this 'Paige' currently was. Apparently.

"I'm not saying anything about new charges, Paige! This isn't about danger, it's about questions! We can't go Up _There_ but you _can_! All I want you to do is ask the Elders if gods weren't just special mortals, but _actual_ creatures!"

Paige scowled, "The Elders are not going to like that, Piper, and you know it! It's _not_ in the whitelighter job description to go asking questions that don't directly relate to keeping an innocent _safe_."

Adult Piper sighed, "Please, Paige? Who knows how this could help us, or our _children_ , with future evils." Paige's scowl lightened, but she frowned deeper. Piper tried again, "For me? As a sister?"

That worked. "Fine," Paige shook her finger at adult Piper, "But I'm blaming you if they put me on suspension!"

Leo and Piper stared in awe as adult Piper's sister disappeared in a shimmer of bright blue lights.

"What is that? I mean, how does she do that?" Leo tripped over his own words.

Adult Leo gave the demigods a small smile, since adult Piper seemed to be stuck in glare-a-thon mode. "That's orbing; it's a form of teleportation that all whitelighters have."

"And what, _exactly_ , is a whitelighter?" Piper jumped in, "Besides a guardian, you already told us that."

"Well, a whitelighter is a human who dedicated themselves to helping others in life—living selflessly, and sometimes even dying for their cause," Leo had a slightly distant look in his eyes.

"Wait, what? Dying? You mean she was dead? Like a ghost or something?" Leo stared at his older namesake.

"No," adult Piper jumped in, "Paige is different. She's a whitelighter-witch. Our mom was a witch, but her dad was a whitelighter."

"But _you_ were just a whitelighter?" Piper asked adult Leo. At his nod, she continued, "So… _you're_ dead?"

"Not anymore. I died in World War Two and chose to become a whitelighter. I married Piper, and later—after lots of complications, such as becoming an Elder, and then an Avatar— I clipped my wings and became mortal so I could stay with Piper free from politics Up There."

Leo glanced at his friend. The daughter of Aphrodite looked downright pale. "I—I think I'm getting a headache."

The son of Hephaestus grunted in agreement, "Just when you start to think you understand the world…."

The adults glanced at each other. The ex-whitelighter sighed, "We understand that."

Adult Piper was just opening her mouth to speak when a jingle of blue lights interrupted them. Leo was stunned to see Paige's transformation… she looked quite pale. No, that wasn't quite right. She looked terrified. She looked like she had just seen Cerberus for the first time, or had found herself staring up at a very angry giant. Leo hadn't even been there, and he still felt the anxiety grip his chest tightly. He didn't have to look to imagine the look on Piper's face right about now.

* * *

"Paige?" Piper found herself staring at a face she had only ever seen on her little sister maybe twice. Once when she had shown up at Prue's funeral, before she had known who she was, and once when they found out who Chris was and what Wyatt…. But that face meant that Paige's entire world view had been flipped upside down. "Honey," Piper stepped forward to hold her by the shoulders, "What's wrong?"

"This wasn't supposed to happen." She was breathless.

"What wasn't supposed to happen?" Leo supplied gently.

"These worlds weren't supposed to cross," she glanced apprehensively at the two demigods. "The Elders said that only two of even them know the full truth—they said something about the Mist—and that the consequences of an encounter between the two worlds would be disastrous. The gods and demigods and monsters aren't supposed to know about witches or demons, and we aren't supposed to know about them."

Teen Leo frowned, though he still looked a little uneasy, "I'm not seeing any signs of the apocalypse. I think we're ok."

Paige shook her head vigorously, "What if the Titans found out about the Source of All Evil?"

The demigods obviously didn't know what that was, but they got the idea.

"But you're telling us there has _never_ been a breach between your world and ours?" teen Piper looked unsettled.

Paige shook her head stiffly. "Not for more than a few minutes, before the Elders manage to clean it up. To prevent anyone else from finding out."

"We could've introduced some of the world's greatest evils to each other just by stumbling across two kids with our names?" Leo asked aghast, staring at his former charge.

Paige nodded, eyes tightly closed. She then turned to the two demigods, "Sorry about this, but I'm supposed to wipe all of our memories about this chance encounter. The Elders think that we're safe though; no demons are anywhere close to us, so they haven't broken through the Mist too."

The young witch held up a bag. _Memory dust_. That was the last thing Piper thought before she forgot everything.

* * *

Leo remembered he had a bad feeling about something. Something about… the Mist. And, um… blue lights? The young mechanic shook his head and sat up. He was beside Piper; they had fallen asleep on a hill by the bay, the sun on their faces, the fresh smell in their noses.

San Francisco was beautiful.

Giving a contented sigh, he fished in his tool belt and pulled out the Archimedes' sphere and started fiddling with it. He soon lost track of time.

"So," a voice from beside him eventually ventured, "You going to stop stressing about Calypso?"

Leo gave Piper a brilliant grin, "Never."

Piper scowled at him, "She isn't going to leave you, and the entire wrath of both camps would rain down on anyone who'd try to force her back onto that island, since—technically—Percy made the gods promise to let her go. You have nothing to worry about."

For a moment they sat in silence, save for the clinking of Leo's tools. Eventually Leo sighed. He wasn't sure how or when he'd figure it out, but…. "I can't take her for granted. I won't ever go that, because if I ever do…. Whenever we think we understand the world and how it works, that's when everything goes wrong. So… I think I'm going to follow Murphy's Law and doubt everything."

"I'm pretty sure that's not Murphy's Law."

"Right. It's his brother's theory—the poor guy never got anything right."

Piper chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Come on," she heaved herself to her feet, "We should head back; maybe we can sneak into the feast at Camp Jupiter tonight."

Leo immediately abandoned his sphere, "Feast? There's a feast?"

"Maybe. Race you to the Fields!" And she was off.

"Hey! No fair!"

* * *

"Hey, Piper," A gentle voice gently prodded at her addled mind. Piper grumbled a little and tried to shift to a more comfortable position on the ever so-slightly boney surface she had her head rested upon. "Piper, we should head back home. Billie is probably at her wits end."

That got through to her. Piper sat bolt upright. _The boys!_ They were probably not even _home_ anymore if they had anything to do with it. And she had so much to think about, what with Gaea and… uh… Paige? What did Paige have to do with anything?

Leo smiled, no doubt at the expression she wore. "We fell asleep on the bench," he offered in explanation.

Man, dreams were just _weird_ sometimes!

Piper sighed, "I'm going to call Paige really quick, and then we should go rescue Billie, since she's the only babysitter we've got."

Leo frowned, "Why?"

"Just want to check up on her—just a feeling," Piper was already dialing her sister's number.

A rather cranky voice answered, _"What?"_

"Just wanted to check up on you, sweetie."

 _"Besides falling asleep on my desk again, I'm just peachy. Why d'you ask?"_

"Just had a weird dream. Listen, honey, you should really get more rest. You can't run a school if you don't sleep."

 _"Says the woman who just admitted to taking a nap in the middle of the day. I thought you were out with Leo?"_

Piper chucked, "I am."

 _"Well, then stop talking to_ me _!"_ Paige sounded exasperated. _"I'll see you at dinner tonight—or did you forget?"_

Crap. Just—crap. They were doing a family dinner tonight, since everyone had been so busy. "I—I need to cook! Oh no! I haven't even gone shopping yet!"

Leo forced her to look at him, "Piper, _you_ are not allowed anywhere _near_ the kitchen today."

Piper was faintly aware of maniacal laughter through the phone _"Good luck feeding all seventeen of us!"_ The phone line clicked dead.

Piper stared to her husband in horror, "When did our family get so big?"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry. That was cruel. But... it had to happen. It was the only thing I could write once I thought of it, and it wrapped up the story nicely without dangling plots. And, I mean... if the gods and whitelighters knew about each other, wouldn't the demons and monsters know too? And where would that lead the world?**

 **If anyone has a suggestion, I can try writing an alternate ending, but for now... that's what 'cha get.**


End file.
